The cool stone corridor exhaled a faint draft as Luke and Ilyrana stepped out of the hidden chamber, Archimedes' excited ramblings still echoing faintly behind the closing door. The torch-lit hallway felt strangely quiet after all that frenetic genius. Luke took one slow breath, then another, letting the familiar scent of the castle settle around him.
"Feels like every time we visit him, you come out looking like you've aged a year," Ilyrana teased lightly.
Luke snorted.
"I love the guy, but I swear one day he's going to invent something that either blows up the world or revolutionises it. Fifty-fifty chance."
They walked side by side through the dim corridor, passing back into the main castle hallways. Servants were still cleaning up the remnants of the feast, their cheerful chatter fading behind as the two left the bustle of the castle interior.
Their destination wasn't the guest rooms.
Not the stables, not the ramparts.
There was only one place Luke wanted to go next.
